Bloggers & Tweeters Stand Up Against PPD Stigma From AOL News

I am now going to take a moment to thank EACH and EVERY person (that I'm aware of, anyway) who spoke up on behalf of women with postpartum depression and spoke out against the AOL News story today, either on Twitter (by retweeting "Hey @aolnews You suck. And we're not letting you off the hook. Fix this NOW. #AOLhurtsmomswithPPD"), Facebook, or on their blogs, or at the very minimum shared the stories on Postpartum Progress, Her Bad Mother, BlogHer, PhDinParenting and elsewherewith others.

You are all a true treasure. It warms my heart to see so many who care about the emotional health of mothers and are willing to use your voices against the stigma that still exists. It's because of you that AOL took the horrible quote off of its website — a quote that NEVER should have been published in the first place. Thank you.

For anyone who thought I was somehow misreading or misunderstanding the meaning behind Pat Brown's quote, here is her response to Amy at Pretty Babies about the uproar:

"Generally speaking, I don't buy the chemical imbalance theory for any depression; I believe people just don't want to deal with real life issues and the fact that sometimes life is simply depressing and damn difficult. It isn't about chemical imbalance but tough times and our own issues.

Pat BrownInvestigative Criminal Profiler"

AOL should have offered a different opinion, or done some fact checking and perhaps never quoted Pat Brown at all. Postpartum depression is not always caused solely by chemical imbalance, to be sure. There are other risk factors that are social in nature, like domestic abuse for instance. But it's not because moms "don't want to deal with real life issues". Stuff it, Pat. And AOL, please take more care in publishing stories on this topic.

Also, may I say that this is why blogging and being on Twitter and Facebook is important. Because regular people like us have the power to make change. So awesome.

Also aBIG thank you to BlogHer for giving me such a wonderful additional outlet for this story, as they have so much wider reach than PP does. And aspecial thank you to Catherine and Annie, who also have much wider audiences than I, for helping make this viral.

Katherine Stone is the creator of this blog, and the founder and executive director of Postpartum Progress. She has been named a WebMD Health Hero, one of the fiercest women in America by More magazine, and one of the 15 most influential patient advocates to follow. She is a survivor of postpartum OCD.

Comments

Happens often when I read things on your blog, but again, I've got goosebumps reading this. Just AMAZING the outpouring of support and outrage over the story. Thank you for taking such a huge role in spearheading it. I was just in awe of all the women who were tweeting and blogging. It's been a crazy day around here today, but my plan during the munchkin's nap time tomorrow is to blog about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such a strong voice for awareness for PPD.

I've been tweeting but haven't blogged yet. Twitter was not nice to me today and I'm coming up dry with a post but am hoping for inspiration tomorrow morning, after sleep. Thank YOU for spearheading the fight today and getting them to remove that horrid quote! You rock.

Thanks Katherine for being on top of all this. I am abroad and haven't had access to the internet til today. I would have joined in if I could, but glad that we have so many warrior moms out there who did add their voices to yours. I kind of feel like AOL solicited the most ignorant opinion they could on this one. Shame on them.

I am indignant about Pat Brown's misinformation. As a mental health professional, there is a body of research that indicates that depression indeed has mutlfactorial etiology, however it is a biologically-based illness. Diabetes can have a mutlifactorial etiology, yet it is a biologically-based illness as well. Yet depression still carries a stigma, even though it is an illness that has well-known treatment protocols.

I've been tweeting too. You are right…we have the power to change people's perspectives. I've always felt that if I didn't at least try to instill change–whatever the cause–I was being an irresponsible citizen. After battling the disease and suffering the stigma, I could never sit quietly and let others misjudge all those mommas out there–OR stay quiet and not get the proper help.

Goosebumps here, too. Amazing to see what happens when women band together to turn a wrong into a right. I was not aware of this happening yesterday (ignorance is bliss, right?) but am so thankful to all of you who took a stand. Bravo!

I am one of the names listed above. I am British & live in the UK. PPD or PND (post natal depression) is something I have just survived. Pat Browns comments made me feel sick. PPD is something that affects 1in 10 women in the UK. How dare she suggest we are all "crocks". I will stand up proudly in defence of PPD sufferers against uneducated, misinformed, over opinionated, so called 'experts' like Pat Brown. Laura Finch (lozzi84)

Katherine, You are most certainly welcome. The whole thing was gag-inducing and inspiring all at the same time. Pat Brown's snarky disrespectful exchange on her Facebook page (I found on Pretty Babies) was the rotting cherry on top of the disgusting sundae. She may have a little set of groupies that think she's really clever, but being a jerk only takes you so far. Genuine passion and compassion about others only brings you abundance in life. And I think we all got a great big scoopful of that yesterday 🙂

I am really proud of what we did yesterday. Adding you to my feed reader. Wish I'd known about your site 5 years ago! I'm @prettybabies on Twitter, by the way, and the author of http://prettybabies.blogspot.com

I have a blog and I will be writing about this soon. I did post the initial link to my Facebook page but I didn't have time to do a full blog entry yesterday. Check out Pat Brown's Facebook page and her snarky comments. My feeling is that she's too far gone for us to change her mind, but that we can get the message out and maybe other people can get educated. Ms. Brown is a lost cause, I think.

Hi Katherine: Also have it on my Facebook page: Understanding Postpartum Psychosis.http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1530019541056&sk=mes… BTW: Pat's replies remind me that some people seem to think that having an opinion qualifies them as an expert.

Thank you, thank you, thank YOU for providing this space in the first place. I'd actually been doing a post about my own followup the day before (because it was a year to the day that I'd hauled my depressed self into my doctor's office for PPD) – and so I hung on to it when I caught wind of this and updated. Here it is: http://resolvingtimelineissues.ca/2010/08/18/post… Twitter: @Nicole013

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Postpartum Progress exists to provide peer-to-peer support. The information on this site is for educational, advocacy purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical or psychological condition. Please consult your own health care provider for individual advice regarding your specific situation and needs.